I need a new recipe!

[crazycritter]

Alright, so I've been mixing my own food lately, and my gerbils really seem to love it, and they're looking very healthy. Some people seemed to disagree with me putting the kitten food in the recipe, and Queen thought that there should be more grains and such, instead of so many processed foods such as puffed wheat.

Well, I'd like to keep the puffed wheat in there, because they really enjoy it, but I could add more grains and take out the kitten food, depending on what you guys would be best for breeding gerbils.

Keep in mind, however, that the entire point of me mixing my own food was to cut down on the cost of keeping 20+ gerbils. I can't really afford fancy, organic grains at the moment...Most of it, I need to be able to buy in bulk at the grocery store.

Alright, so, this is my current recipe. Tell me what you think I should take out/add/etc.

Whole Oats
Rolled Oats
Barley
Bran Flakes
Split Peas
Banana chips
Sunflower seeds (small quantity)
Peanuts (small quantity)
puffed wheat
corn flakes
wild bird seed
raisins (small amount)
Kitten food

Kitten food ingredients:

chicken
chicken meal
corn gluten meal
brewers rice
chicken fat preserved with rosemary extract
wheat
dried whole egg
beet pulp
fish meal
flaxseed
brewers dried yeast
whey
potassium chloride
choline chloride,
lecithin
salt
calcium carbonate
ferrous sulphate
inositol
diccalcium phosphate
yucca shidigera extract
Vitamin A, D, and E
Taurine
Zinc Oxide
Niacin
Copper Sulphate
Maganese Oxide
Thiamine Mononitrate
Calcium Pantothenate
Riboflavin
Biotin
Vitamin B12


Thanks! ;D

[crazycritter]

PS: I would really like to hear what Peter thinks about this...

*hinthint!* ;D

[Ritzie/Admin]

Hahaha, now here is my opinion! I have to say I'm not an expert in mixing food for gerbils! I've never done it myself.

It looks good to me, and when you breed I would personally not limit the kitten food ingredients. I'm to lazy to mix it myself! And I have only 13 gerbils at this moment, and temporary not breeding! The only thing I do for my fat-tailed gerbils is adding some more animal protein with their complete gerbil mix.

But I have to say, queenofthenile knows a lot more on this than I do! And probably several others. ;D

[queenofthenile]

I dunno, I would just add some red wheat and white millet, but I got that at the aviary ;D. What *is* in the wild bird seed? Maybe there is a bird seed mix that contains those grains? I think having the cat food in there is fine, especially since you are breeding. I wouldn't change it much, just add one or two things .

[Ritzie/Admin]

The only place where I could think of where you can purchase many different seeds is indeed the bird food section of a pet shop!

Most bird seed mixes contain indeed wheat and white millet!

[sweetie]

I actually just got Parrot food that had the red and white millet as well as safflower seeds. I bought it because I needed to add extra protien for my breeding gerbils!!

[Ritzie/Admin]

Here some on the food of wild gerbils:

The clawed gerbils eat seeds and green parts of many plants. In summer they prefer to eat green parts and in winter seeds and fruits. The composition of plant species, consumed by these animals, is found to be different for different regions. In the agricultural fields in Zabaikalie and Tuva mostly the seeds of crop plants are eaten. In fallowlands their food comprise cereals, wormwoods and plants of Chenopodiaceae, Compositae, Leguminosae and other families. In the food stores inside their burrows seeds of buckwheat (upto 20,5 kg), wheat, millet, oats, Setaria, Chenopodium, Caragana (upto 1.4 kg) and branches of wormwood have been found. Oats are preferred to wheat as a feed (LAVRINENKO & TARASOV, 1967). Usually the stores contain only one type of food. Storing of food begins in the middle of August and continues upto the middle of autumn and sometimes even upto winter. All animals of this species take part in the storing; very often adult animals are seen collecting food items with the help of their juvenile offspring. All members of a family group spend the winter together in the same burrow (FETISOV & MOSKOVSKIKH, 1948).

The most important items of summer food are the green parts of hemp, Chenopodium, buckwheat, Atriplex, Artaphaxis scoparia and other plants (LEONTJEV, 1954).

home.wtal.de/ehr/gerbils/wild.htm